Langenberg - Judgement Day

Langenberg - Judgement Day
It's difficult to review a record like this without lapsing into workmanlike language. If you use the word "quality" or "reliable" to talk about Swiss house then you might as well be praising a table or a chair. But Langenberg is one of a group of Swiss house producers that really is reliable. Here he drops a two tracker for Drumpoet Community which feels like a breakthrough release, though plenty will have picked up his Shtmlaudio and Resopal singles. And the result? Well, it's quality.

First up is "Judgement Day," the sort of exercise in digital house heresy that could only be made in 2008. The groove is a sharp mesh of congas and splashing percussion, with deep keys and lazy horns loping across a distinctly digital landscape. A vocal sample of a preacher shouting "judgement day" and especially "raise your black hands high" seems an uncomfortable mining pit for a white producer. Still, if you can treat the voice as just another element then that probably won't bother you. This is a much more bumpy sound for Langenberg which sees him stepping closer to the likes of Johnny D. It's also his most ostentatiously "big" release.

On the other side is "Bleachin'," a strange schaffelling deep house track. It sounds great, with that warm psychedelic daze that's the signature sound for the Swiss right now. The only problem is the initial schaffel beat which seems kind of pointless and irritating when you've been zombified by house. Thankfully this disappears, leaving a strident and dubby hypnotic house march. The final three or four minutes are a triumphant and dogged sequence of repetition, a cold winter morning of the mind which will have you slowly drawling the word "house" once again.

It's difficult to imagine this record (and many that sit next to it in 2008) ever appealing to anyone beyond the warm, safe, and self-sustaining bubble that '00s dance music has become, but if you're in it, it's hard to criticise it for that.